One wonders what stories they told…
They had to have been in their 90s at the time this was taken. I also wonder what they thought about the advances in weapons! From cap and ball to semi-auto pistols and rifles, from horses to automobiles and airplanes. And I wonder how many battles they survived and how many friends they lost.
An old guy says his piece…
Nuff said…
h/t Crucis
Apparently the Senate has passed a bill called the Veterans Small Business Enhancement Act, S.2679, the “Veterans Small Business Enhancement Act of 2018,” which amends the Small Business Act to provide veteran-owned small businesses access to surplus property owned by the Federal government.
Where this could really be a boon to Veteran Owned Small Businesses (VOSBs), is the ability to get stuff from .gov from surplus/DRMO. Desks, chairs, maybe some office equipment, who knows. But it would be stuff that the VOSB didn’t have to pony up money for initially…
If you know a veteran that owns a small business, you might want to pass the information along.
HERE is the link to the actual verbiage, and the official notification.
And then there is this, from Apple. While I applaud the effort, I’m not sure I want that on my phone…
Apple has announced that military veterans treated by VA will soon be able to access their medical records on the iPhone Health Records app. It’s the latest major collaboration between Apple and a health care system, and a sign of the company’s growing interest in the world of electronic health records.
Electronic health records are a famously contentious sector of the health care system. For many patients, the tangled evolution of e-health technology has led to a fragmented paper trail filled with gaps, which makes it hard to bring their own health information from one network to another and can slow down their treatment. The new collaboration would allow the 9 million veterans served by the VA, which is the largest medical system in the country, to see their aggregated medical records – including conditions, vaccinations, lab tests, medical procedures, and diagnoses – in one place.
The long-rumored VA collaboration continues Apple’s efforts to partner with as many institutions as possible. A year ago, Apple announced that users would be able to
access records from over 100 hospitals in 39 health care systems through its app. According to a November Wall Street Journal report, the eventual goal might be for
patients to share their data with other health apps that can provide services like prescription refills and then give Apple a cut of the profit. Apple isn’t the only company interested in health records. Amazon recently announced that it will start selling software that can read medical records and make suggestions for improving treatment or saving money. And Google applied for a patent for a system that uses artificial
intelligence trained on electronic health records to build models that could warn doctors of dangerous medical events.
The military draft is currently under review-
ARLINGTON, Va. — Three years ago, Congress created a commission to help it answer a pair of questions: Is the Selective Service System, which requires 18-year-old men to register for a potential military draft, working?
If so, should it be expanded to include women?
The panel, more than halfway through its work, is asking even bigger questions.
Full article, HERE at USA Today.
And as of Friday, Federal Judge Gray Miller in Houston has declared that the all-male military draft is unconstitutional.
Full article, HERE.
I’m hoping they change the rules to require ALL 18 years olds register for the draft, regardless of sex. This will give women the ‘full’ equity that they have wanted. And along with it comes those pesky requirements that those who fail to register with the Selective Service System at their 18th birthday can be denied public benefits such as federal employment and student loans.
Frankly this is long overdue. It should have been done in the mid-80s when Schroeder et al made the big push for women in the military with no restrictions. Why should half the population get off scot free?
If you’d like your topsoil back, you can come get it… At least that part that isn’t already in Arkansas… Sigh…
Windy days are a fact of life in this part of the country, but dayum… 12 hours of 30-40 mph winds with highest gust at 50+ gets old. Power flickered five or six times, and I’m going to need to dust/vacuum the WHOLE house tomorrow, but I did get an alpha read in for a friend of mine, and it’s going to be one helluva book! I’ll be pushing it when it comes out, trust me!
Even poor Obi didn’t like it. He spent the day either barking at the pops and clicks, or hiding under my computer desk. He’d want out, go out for three minutes, and run for the door. Poor pup had to find a quiet corner of the yard depending on the wind direction to even try to take a leak without getting blown over.
Con crud is finally in ‘remission’, assuming nothing stupid happens in the next day or so. And I’m actually feeling like eating and being halfway human, now if the back will just quit hurting…
And the muse is finally starting to work a bit, so the writing is picking back up. Now the issue is, ‘which’ story she’s going to launch me on.
Lousy weather, lousy connectivity, supposedly high winds today.
So you get no post, cause I ain’t trying to type it on the phone.
Go read the sidebar folks.
Posted from my iPhone.
First up is a book bomb from Larry-
As always, click the cover to go to the book.
Our book is:
From Larry: Zach was a very good friend of mine and one of the all around coolest people I’ve ever met. He finished the rough draft of this novel three days before he died suddenly from a pulmonary embolism.
Paul Genesse and Patrick Tracy are talented authors, who were also friends of Zach’s, and they vowed to finish his last book and get it out there because Zach thought it was the best thing he’d ever written.
No matter how good you are, rough drafts still need lots of work, and working with Zach’s brother Josh, and a great team of artists (it is beautifully illustrated) and editors, they did a fantastic job. They’ve received no compensation for this. It was done as a labor of love, and all the royalties go to Zach’s widow, Makenzie.
Larry’s full post is HERE.
Second is a benefit anthology from LTUE, Trace the Stars.
The blurb-
Exciting Space Opera and Hard Science Fiction Tales from Award-Winning and Up-and-Coming Writers
A consultant discovers how to communicate effectively with ancient, alien beings who have an entirely different perspective on the universe. A human becomes a hero for his actions, even though they were after his death. Hard choices must be made to save loved ones. When trying to prevent imminent death, insanity becomes an asset. These are only a few of the amazing stories waiting within these pages!
Journey into the last frontier with these seventeen tales of wonder and science, including award-winning stories by some of the top writers in science fiction and brand new tales by promising up-and-comers.
Hemelein Publications, in cooperation with LTUE Press, is proud to present this exciting collection of space opera and hard science fiction tales. We created this anthology to honor Marion K. “Doc” Smith, the original faculty mentor behind the creation of Life, the Universe, & Everything, the annual science fiction and fantasy academic symposium held in Provo, Utah. Proceeds from this volume, and those that follow in the coming years, go to support LTUE’s mission of educating and helping new writers, artists, editors, and other creatives in learning the skills they need to become successful in the speculative fiction field.
Trace the Stars collects stories from Nancy Fulda, Sandra Tayler, Kevin J. Anderson, Brad R. Torgersen, M. K. Hutchins, Eric James Stone, Daniel Friend, Emily Martha Sorensen, David Farland, John M. Olsen, James Wymore, Eric G. Swedin, Jaleta Clegg, Paul Genesse, Wulf Moon, Beth Buck, and Julia H. West.
Both of these are for damn good causes! Thanks!
With this weather, kinda important…
And this one is just… over the top…
Recap of the Grieving panel-
Members- Amanda Fuesting (Hospice nurse), Dr. Nik Rao (Consulting psychiatrist for a well-known Pediatric Hospital, and physically disabled), Brian D’Almeida (physically disabled/transplant survivor), Scott Bascom (physically disabled and caregiver), and myself.
These were the ‘questions’ that were the entering argument:
Question 1- Professionals working in fields that encounter death frequently tend to compartmentalize everything. How does this impact their reactions to death and grieving?
Question 2- What impact does military service have on reactions to death and injury, and how would that differ from civilians who encounter death frequently?
Question 3- Writers often approach the character who knows that they have a limited lifespan with fatalism or over-caution. Those are reactions that people have, but they’re hardly the only ones. And people don’t usually stay in either one as they actually get a chance to grieve the perceived loss and accept a new reality. What does this actually look like?
Question 4- Burnout is a real problem for police, military, and medical professionals alike. How much of that is related to being unable to grieve deaths that have happened in a professional setting and what does that look like for a character?
Question 5- How does someone with a chronic illness relate with people who are able-bodied and healthy? And how does working closely people who are living with chronic illnesses change your perception of it?
I started with a trigger warning and told people up front this panel was going to be dark…
Amanda started off with the reality of death. The smells, textures, and reactions of those dying. Next Nik talked about the issues with children and their reactions to dying, along with the parent’s reactions. I talked about the military response to death and the compartmentalization of feelings not just in the military structure but anyone who deals with death professionally (Fire, Police, EMS, Hospice, Hospital). Brian talked about surviving a transplant, and other coping mechanisms he adopted, including FIDO (F**k It Drive On). Scott gave a very touching story of caring for a disabled parent, while disabled himself.
We discussed each question and how the writers might use it to give their characters more depth, and the fact that there is no RIGHT response to death. Everyone reacts differently, depending on their particular ‘role’, if you will. We also talked about survivor guilt (primarily military, but also parents), and how burnout affects various professionals.
I used the example of the Indians at the funeral from Tom Wolfe’s The Right Stuff to talk about the military mentality (self confidence, it won’t happen to me, even while burying a shipmate).
We also talked about rehabilitation, and the fact that so many movies/books get it wrong. You’re NOT going to be up/fighting ready in 2 days after being shot, nor are you going to jump out of that ‘medbox’ and go back into combat after regrowing a limb. That limb doesn’t know how to work!!! It has to be retrained… The example I used was veterans getting prosthetics at Walter Reed/Bethesda, and the ramp up of ability from barely being able to stand, to running within months.
The questions were great, and I think we answered ‘most’ of them, with all the panelists chiming in. There were a number of sidebars after the panel and during the following days, so I think it was a success.
Grumpy, fat old man on a panel…
Trying to explain the differences in self defense in the US vs. other parts of the world… Sigh
Also on History of MilSF panel; Grieving Chronic Illness and Death panel; and Drones and Robots panel.
We only ran one person out of the Grieving panel, but I DID give them a trigger warning that it was going to be a very dark panel.
A number of positive comments after the various panels, and more than a few stops in the hallways with “Can you explain?”
And apparently a small world hit- Friend of mine’s FIL was apparently in the audience on the drone panel, and said, “That panel as the second most memorable part of LTUE for him.”
The LibertyCon contingent was out in force, I think we were on something over 20 panels total. It was great to see friends, and MANY thanks to Jonathan LaForce and the others who did the fantastic dinner and not a birthday (not for me) last night!
This year seemed to have more ‘energized’ audiences, with many good questions, and a lot of sidebars afterward with other presenters.
And I have to call out a class act at SLC yesterday. Ice T was on the same flight to DFW, and he was recognized by a young fan (part of a group of probably 20). He was very gracious, spent about fifteen minutes taking pictures with them individually and then got them in for a group picture. He never acted put out, and smiled the whole time, and was also gracious to people getting on the airplane who recognized him. Kudos and no wonder he has the fan base he does! Well done, sir!